In our most recent blog post, Introducing IntegrationHub ETL in ServiceNow, we explained what IntegrationHub ETL is and how it can be used to build CMDB Integrations to third-party data sources. IntegrationHub ETL is the framework in which Service Graph Connectors populate the CMDB with data. So, what are Service Graph Connectors?
Service Graph Connectors are purpose-built by ServiceNow and ServiceNow partners on top of the existing IntegrationHub ETL application. Service Graph Connectors are delivered by the ServiceNow store and continually kept up-to-date to ensure that your integrations with third-party data sources will still function during upgrades of those systems. The connectors all leverage the Identification and Reconciliation Engine (IRE), so you know you can trust the data is being inserted correctly into the CMDB.
With ServiceNow Service Graph, customers can build a next-generation system of record for all their digital products and services to address their complete technology stacks, from infrastructure all the way to the application layers.
Source: ServiceNow Introduction to Service Graph Connectors Webinar
Service Graph Connectors address a wide range of use cases by making it easy to populate the right data at the right time. Here are some common use cases that Service Graph Connectors can help achieve:
IT Service Management: Increase operator efficiency and reduce potential outages when planning changes by providing a complete and accurate inventory of CIs. Enable better assignment of CIs for Incident and Problem Change. Improve effectiveness of impact analysis based on accurate CI dependency.
IT Operations Management: Prioritize alert response based on business impact by improving CI binding of Events and Alerts. ITOM can also utilize dependency tree for better impact analysis and event compression.
IT Asset Management: Gain visibility of hardware and software across your operational environment. More accurate and complete inventory of Hardware and Software Assets to enable better tracking of usage and potential reclamation candidates.
As we mentioned in our IntegrationHub ETL blog post, the importance of data accuracy and cleanliness cannot be overstated in ensuring trust of the CMDB within any organization. By utilizing IntegrationHub ETL and Service Graph Connectors, your organization can break down data silos and provide a trusted single source of truth in the CMDB.
There are over a dozen Service Graph Connectors available for various third-party tools and data sources. ServiceNow and integration partners are continually building new connectors, and the store is updated monthly by ServiceNow. I’m excited to see a standardized and trusted method in which CMDB data will be integrated and maintained in the future of the ServiceNow platform.
Source: ServiceNow
As shown in our IntegrationHub ETL blog post, the process for configuring the Service Graph Connectors is identical to defining your own third-party integrations in ETL. The connectors provide a standardized pre-built integration definition and mappings that can be utilized immediately so that we do not have to build integrations from scratch.
Interested in learning more about Service Graph Connectors in ServiceNow? Reach out to our team. We would love to learn more about your ServiceNow challenges and help your organization build better solutions.